Need a mental health day?

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by Jillian Scalici1 view·Updated May 21, 2021
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  1. Do you need a mental health day?
  2. Because I do, if I could change a policy within
  3. the workplace, I would have employers create an environment that
  4. supports mental health and possibly provide mental health days as
  5. well as vacation and sick time.
  6. One in five adults struggle with mental health issues.
  7. That's 20 of Americans.
  8. People with serious mental health issues are 40 more likely
  9. to develop cardiovascular disease.
  10. A couple other facts.
  11. No law requires jobs to give pay vacation.
  12. Although most do these jobs set the rules as far
  13. as who is eligible for vacation.
  14. How much time is accrued and when an employee can
  15. use their vacation, More than 78 million Americans are paid
  16. hourly. This means that there are more than likely accruing
  17. their vacation rather than just having a given to them
  18. from when they're hired in 2016, 50 of employees that
  19. they're overly exhausted from their jobs.
  20. That's a 32 increase in the last two decades, 72
  21. of employees want their jobs to encourage mental health and
  22. well being because, well, why wouldn't they?
  23. One fact that I found very interesting is that major
  24. depression is costing employers 31-51 billion dollars each year in
  25. lost productivity by 2030.
  26. These numbers are predicted to exceed six trillion.
  27. So what can we do to encourage mental health while
  28. trying to save money?
  29. We all know that happy employees make for a better
  30. work environment.
  31. Research suggests to take one or two mental health days
  32. every three months, Although I think this should be once
  33. a month.
  34. Research has also found that taking mental health days does
  35. help people deal with their problems outside of the workplace,
  36. but it does not address workplace factors linked to mental
  37. health problems.
  38. So what can we do is try and create a
  39. workplace environment that promotes mental health.
  40. This should be across the board to every corporation big
  41. or small, so the steps we should take.
  42. We can offer training to supervisors, allow managers to attend
  43. relevant training in order to support staff living with mental
  44. health issues and the overall well being of the organization.
  45. This will help managers recognize signs and symptoms of a
  46. stress employee.
  47. We can encourage work life balance.
  48. Employers should provide flexible work schedules, maintaining a work life
  49. balance reduces stress and helps to prevent workplace exhaustion.
  50. Employers to develop mental health policies offers psychological support, organizational
  51. culture as well as recognition and reward.
  52. We can try and include mental health coverage and health
  53. insurance, provide insurance with no or low out of pocket
  54. costs for antidepressants and mental health counseling.
  55. And lastly, the easiest thing we can do is increase
  56. awareness. Employees should have access to educational resources from national
  57. organizations, employers can organize seminars on depression and stress management.
  58. They can teach techniques such as mindful awareness, breathing exercises
  59. and meditation to avoid burnout mental breakdowns and suicidal risk.
  60. It is critical to educate employees about mental health resources
  61. companies that invest in their employees mental health and encourage
  62. open dialogue about mental health issues creates a positive workplace
  63. and a place where people want to work.
  64. It's a win win situation.